1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to security systems for monitoring portable articles and, more particularly, to a security system utilizing a sensing assembly with an elongate tether which confines movement of the article within a prescribed range.
2. Background Art
The proliferation of portable, high tech articles has presented unique challenges to their purveyors. In the electronics industry, different technologies continue to evolve, resulting in different types of products and more companies competing for the attention of the consumer. As an example, the technology in the personal digital assistant (PDA) industry is developing at an astounding rate. More and more functional capabilities continue to be incorporated into PDA's, which are becoming the equivalent of hand-held offices. Those interested in purchasing a PDA may find what is purchased now to be obsolete in a matter of mere months.
The trend with this product, as well as others primarily in the electronics industry, has led to the use of elaborate point-of-purchase displays in establishments where these products are sold. Given the cost of these products, and the myriad different capabilities they possess, consumers have demanded a hands on operating trial. To facilitate this, the PDA's are commonly placed on a support system, which may include a shelf or counter. A tether is used to secure each article, with one end thereof suitably attached to the article and the other end to the support system. This allows the potential consumer to pick up, hold, and operate the article in normal fashion within a range dictated by the length of the tether.
Various types of security systems incorporating such a tether have been utilized over the years. In a basic form of security system, a purely mechanical tether is utilized. The mechanical tether has a drawback that it is prone to being severed or pulled off of the article or support system, as a result of which the thief may abscond with the article. An exemplary system with a mechanical tether is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,667.
To afford additional protection for higher end articles, tether systems utilizing electronic components were developed. An exemplary system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,098. Electronic systems have the advantage that they are able to detect the separation of the tether from an article, separation of the tether from the support system, and severance of the tether.
In stores at which a large number of articles are displayed in a relatively compact space, “wire management” becomes a significant problem. The “wires” which define the multiple tethers at a given display tend to become tangled. This problem generally is initiated as potential consumers pick up tethered articles and cross the tether on the article being inspected with one or more tethers on adjacent articles as the article is replaced. Without proper periodic display monitoring and maintenance, which is potentially time consuming, the tangling of the tethers may become significant enough that the articles may not be movable within a reasonable range and, in a worst case, may be effectively unmovable to an extent to allow any meaningful inspection thereof. This may lead to frustration on the part of the consumer that causes him/her to abandon the shopping exercise at one establishment and travel to another.
To address wire management problems in mechanical tether systems, it is known to use a recoiling mechanism to draw the mechanical tether into a housing. The user withdraws the tether to increase its effective length by grasping the article and drawing against a return force on the tether. These mechanical systems have been used for many years, but, while generally affordable, have the limitations described above inherent to purely mechanical systems. One such system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,183.
The assignee herein made a very significant advance in the industry by devising a security system that has the ability to retract a conductive cord that is integrated into circuitry associated with electronic components. This represented a tremendous advance in the industry, promoting wire management with more sophisticated and expensive electronic components, and other devices. This system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 37,590. This system has been highly commercially successful. It has proven to be a reliable theft prevention device and one that makes possible effective wire management at displays.
The one drawback that has been experienced with virtually all electronic systems is that conductive wires utilized to design the required circuitry are made with a gauge and hardness that makes them prone to being severed, either by cutting or through the application of a tensile force which causes either a complete severance or a disruption in circuit continuity. This problem has generally been contended with because these electronic systems will detect such a breach and produce a detectable signal to alert a store operator thereof. However, a thief near an exit door may have escaped from the premises before any action can be taken to recover the article.
Thus, mechanical and electronic systems both have advantages and drawbacks. Mechanical systems can be made with sufficient strength that complicated measures must be taken to defeat them. However, once defeated, a breach may not be detected by a store operator, particularly in the confusion of a high traffic environment. Electronic systems have detection capabilities but lack mechanical strength.
Efforts have been made to integrate mechanical and electronic components into security systems to exploit benefits of each. In one known system, severance of a mechanical tether causes retraction thereof which triggers an electronically operated alarm. Such a system is defeatable by knotting the cable or otherwise preventing its full retraction as would trigger the alarm.
To the knowledge of the inventors herein, no device has been commercially offered that has effectively married mechanical and electronic technology to effectively exploit the benefits of both. As electronic components become more complicated, miniaturized and expensive, the demand for more effective security systems increases. Designers of such systems continue to strive in their design endeavors to develop more effective security systems to meet the security demands that have been placed on the industry by both the nature of the articles and the ever increasing skill of would-be thiefs.